I love the name [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m]/[name_m]Nathanael[/name_m] but prefer the latter, much less common, spelling.
What do we think: is it worth the constant misspellings and possible mispronunciations for a name you slightly prefer visually?
I should add that this would be a middle name contender only, which may make a difference!
Are they both pronounced the same? Not knowing any better, I’d probably intuitively pronounce [name_m]Nathanael[/name_m] as something like nath-AN-yayl rather than nath-AN-yuhl. I love the older look of [name_m]Nathanael[/name_m] though.
[name_m]Nathanael[/name_m] is generally pronounced like [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] in English, I believe, although the Hebrew would be more like “nah-tan-ah-[name_f]EL[/name_f]”, which is beautiful but probably not enforceable!
If it’s for the middle spot I wouldn’t worry too much as middle names are not written down too often, and when they are, they are usually written by the person with the name.
If it was for the first name, I’d go with the spelling that would cause less trouble. [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] is known enough that people would lean toward that spelling, so if you were considering it for a first name I’d probably opt for [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m].
I love the name and think less common spellings are fine in the middle slot. As an American, I’ve always liked the idea of using a traditionally spelled Gaelic name as a middle.
I think in most cases it wouldn’t be worth it. If there is a family/heritage related connection for the variant spelling, then yes it would be. But if it’s just an aesthetic preference it seems like a lot of trouble for a very minor difference in spelling.
[name_f]Edit[/name_f]: sorry I didn’t see that this would be a middle name. That makes it a lot more workable I think, particularly it won’t he written but many other people outside yourself and your child.
To be honest I like [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] better. The other spelling is overly complicated. Have you thought of Netanel? Or [name_m]Natan[/name_m]? (Neh-tah-nell) (nah-tahn) they are much less common variants that you might like 
For what it’s worth, I love this name and prefer this spelling as well! It always just seemed more… right to me. Maybe because the only [name_m]Natty[/name_m] I knew spelt it with an ‘a’.
In terms of hassle, I think any child is going to find [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m]/ael difficult to spell regardless of the ending you choose. If it’s a middle name, the only kid who has to worry about it is yours, which is a bonus. Given the nature of the name, I don’t think either spelling would be more confusing inherently - it’s got a bunch of letters to remember anyway, what’s a little ‘a’ instead of an ‘i’ going to do? ”
Either way it’s a great name, but ultimately I think it depends on how much the spelling issue bothers you as to whether or not it’s worth it. Anyway, thanks for reading this very long, unnecessary, unwanted post!
@archer27 No, thank you for such a thoughtful response! Always good to get a British view too.
Bit of an older thread, but I had to jump in here. I know a fair few children / young people with this name, and every single one has the -ael spelling. They’re all either English or Welsh and pronounce it exactly the same as [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m]. It’s always interested me how [name_m]Nathanael[/name_m] is quite well-used in my circles, yet [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] has very little usage. I can think of one [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] I used to know, but that’s about it.
If this was for a first name, I would without a doubt suggest you go the more common spelling, since the child will have to spell his name out all the time. As a middle, you can do what you want. People very rarely write down middle names, especially not their own. So the child will write it, but it would be very uncommon for someone else to be spelling it out, so go with what you prefer
In the middle spot it’s probably fine, although my Godsister named her first son [name_m]Nathanuel[/name_m] and I know she regrets it.